DEVELOPING FLEXIBLE ECONOMIC THRESHOLDS FOR PEST MANAGEMENT USING DYNAMIC PROGRAMMING

The rice stink bug is a major pest of rice in Texas, causing quality related damage. The previous threshold used for assisting in rice stink bug spray decisions lacked flexibility in economic and production decision variables and neglected the dynamics of the pest population. Using stochastic dynamic programming, flexible economic thresholds for the rice stink bug were generated. The new thresholds offer several advantages over the old, static thresholds, including increased net returns, incorporation of pest dynamics, user flexibility, ease of implementation, and a systematic process for updating.Economic thresholds, Dynamic programming, Pest management, Rice, Crop Production/Industries,

X-ray Over-Luminous Elliptical Galaxies: A New Class of Mass Concentrations in the Universe?

We detect four isolated, X-ray over-luminous (Lx>2e43 [h/0.5]**-2 erg/s) elliptical galaxies (OLEGs) in our 160 square degree ROSAT PSPC survey. The extent of their X-ray emission, total X-ray luminosity, total mass, and mass of the hot gas in these systems correspond to poor clusters, and the optical luminosity of the central galaxies (M_R<-22.5 + 5 lg h) is comparable to that of cluster cDs. However, there are no detectable fainter galaxy concentrations around the central elliptical. The mass-to-light ratio within the radius of detectable X-ray emission is in the range 250-450 Msun/Lsun, which is 2-3 times higher than typically found in clusters or groups. These objects can be the result of galaxy merging within a group. However, their high M/L values are difficult to explain in this scenario. OLEGs must have been undisturbed for a very long time, which makes them the ultimate examples of systmes in hydrostatic equilibrium. The number density of OLEGs is n=2.4(+3.1-1.2}x10**-7 (h/0.5)**-3 Mpc**-3 at the 90% confidence. They comprise 20% of all clusters and groups of comparable X-ray luminosity, and nearly all galaxies brighter than M_R=-22.5. The estimated contirubution of OLEGs to the total mass density in the Universe is close to that of T>7 keV clusters.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, uses emulateapj.sty, submitted to ApJ Letter

Tides on Other Earths: Implications for Exoplanet and Palaeo-Tidal Simulations

A key controller of a planet's rotational evolution, and hence habitability, is tidal dissipation, which on Earth is dominated by the ocean tides. Because exoplanet or deep‐time Earth topographies are unknown, a statistical ensemble is used to constrain possible tidal dissipation rates on an Earth‐like planet. A dedicated tidal model is used together with 120 random continental configurations to simulate Earth's semidiurnal lunar tide. The results show a possible ocean tidal dissipation range spanning 3 orders of magnitude, between 2.3 GWto 1.9 TW (1 TW=1012 W). When model resolution is considered, this compares well with theoretical limits derived for the energetics of Earth's present‐day deep ocean. Consequently, continents exert a fundamental control on tidal dissipation rates and we suggest that plate tectonics on a planet will induce a time‐varying dissipation analogous to Earth's. This will alter rotational periods over millions of years and further complicate the role of tides for planetary evolution. Plain Language Summary The daylength of a planet is key for habitability because it regulates the rate with which solar radiation is received and redistributed at the surface. A main controller of a planet's daylength is the ocean tide, because the dissipation of tidal energy works as a brake on the planet's spin, increasing the daylength. Tides are sensitive to the continental arrangement on a planet, but there are no details of the surface of any exoplanet and only limited information of what Earth looked like in the distant past. The change in Earth's daylength forces the Moon to recede into a higher orbit, but the present‐day recession rate is very high and does not fit our age models of the moon, implying that the tides must have been much weaker in the distant past. Here, we use a series of tidal predictions for random continental configurations of Earth to provide a range of tidal dissipation rates and thus an estimate of how the tides in the deep past may have evolved as Earth's continents grew more and more complex. This research also provides a range of dissipation rates that can be used for simulations of the rotational and orbital evolution of exoplanets

Accuracy of the CT numbers of simulated lung nodules imaged with multiâ detector CT scanners

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/135050/1/mp9332.pd

Parachute Models Used in the Mars Science Laboratory Entry, Descent, and Landing Simulation

An end-to-end simulation of the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) entry, descent, and landing (EDL) sequence was created at the NASA Langley Research Center using the Program to Optimize Simulated Trajectories II (POST2). This simulation is capable of providing numerous MSL system and flight software responses, including Monte Carlo-derived statistics of these responses. The MSL POST2 simulation includes models of EDL system elements, including those related to the parachute system. Among these there are models for the parachute geometry, mass properties, deployment, inflation, opening force, area oscillations, aerodynamic coefficients, apparent mass, interaction with the main landing engines, and off-loading. These models were kept as simple as possible, considering the overall objectives of the simulation. The main purpose of this paper is to describe these parachute system models to the extent necessary to understand how they work and some of their limitations. A list of lessons learned during the development of the models and simulation is provided. Future improvements to the parachute system models are proposed

Conformational spread as a mechanism for cooperativity in the bacterial flagellar switch

The bacterial flagellar switch that controls the direction of flagellar rotation during chemotaxis has a highly cooperative response. This has previously been understood in terms of the classic two-state, concerted model of allosteric regulation. Here, we used high-resolution optical microscopy to observe switching of single motors and uncover the stochastic multistate nature of the switch. Our observations are in detailed quantitative agreement with a recent general model of allosteric cooperativity that exhibits conformational spread—the stochastic growth and shrinkage of domains of adjacent subunits sharing a particular conformational state. We expect that conformational spread will be important in explaining cooperativity in other large signaling complexes

Aerocapture Systems Analysis for a Titan Mission

Performance projections for aerocapture show a vehicle mass savings of between 40 and 80%, dependent on destination, for an aerocapture vehicle compared to an all-propulsive chemical vehicle. In addition aerocapture is applicable to multiple planetary exploration destinations of interest to NASA. The 2001 NASA In-Space Propulsion Program (ISP) technology prioritization effort identified aerocapture as one of the top three propulsion technologies for solar system exploration missions. An additional finding was that aerocapture needed a better system definition and that supporting technology gaps needed to be identified. Consequently, the ISP program sponsored an aerocapture systems analysis effort that was completed in 2002. The focus of the effort was on aerocapture at Titan with a rigid aeroshell system. Titan was selected as the initial destination for the study due to potential interest in a follow-on mission to Cassini/Huygens. Aerocapture is feasible, and the performance is adequate, for the Titan mission and it can deliver 2.4 times more mass to Titan than an all-propulsive system for the same launch vehicle

Current Status of Nutrition Training in Graduate Medical Education From a Survey of Residency Program Directors

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/142009/1/jpen0095.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/142009/2/jpen0095-sup-0001.pd

Mg-induced increase of band gap in Zn1-xMgxO nanorods revealed by x-ray absorption and emission spectroscopy

[[abstract]]X-rayabsorption near-edge structure (XANES) and x-ray emission spectroscopy (XES) measurements were used to investigate the effect of Mgdoping in ZnOnanorods. The intensities of the features in the O K-edge XANES spectra of Zn1−xMgxOnanorods are lower than those of pure ZnOnanorods, suggesting that Mgdoping increases the negative effective charge of O ions. XES and XANES spectra of O 2p states indicate that Mgdoping raises (lowers) the conduction-band-minimum (valence-band-maximum) and increases the band gap. The band gap is found to increase linearly with the Mg content, as revealed by photoluminescence and combined XANES and XES measurements.[[booktype]]紙本[[booktype]]電子版[[countrycodes]]US

A Call to Action for Optimizing the Electronic Health Record in the Parenteral Nutrition Workflow

Parenteral nutrition (PN) is a complex therapeutic modality provided to neonates, children, and adults for various indications. Surveys have shown that current electronic health record (EHR) systems are in need of functionality enhancement for safe and optimal delivery of PN. This is a consensus statement from the American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, and the American Society of Health‐System Pharmacists outlining some of the key challenges to prescribing, order review/verification, compounding, and administration of PN using EHRs today and is a call to action for clinicians and vendors to optimize their EHRs regarding the PN build and workflow.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/146340/1/ncp10095.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/146340/2/ncp10095_am.pd